Sustainable Strategies for Accessible, Quality Health Care: Public-Private Sector Engagement in Kenya

The private sector currently provides close to 25 percent of all ART services in Kenya (NASCOP 2014). Because of this substantial role, increasing access to the private sector should be a priority and can be accomplished by establishing sustainable health insurance programs – programs that are known and understood by Kenyans. SHOPS Kenya therefore launched a mass media education campaign to educate consumers about insurance.

In addition, of the approximately 1.4 million people living with HIV in Kenya today, only 755,226 (53%) are receiving lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy (ART). This is due in large part because the collection, transfer and utilization of patient data from providers to stakeholders have been grossly inefficient. In response, SHOPS Kenya explored the use of an electronic data interchange (EDI) to automate the transfer of billing information from providers to insurers to reduce the cost of insurance for Kenyans and organize data to assist with controlling the epidemic.